Knowledge Exchange

The Ontario Tobacco Research Unit has a long standing, integrated program of knowledge exchange and translation that includes ongoing communications with tobacco control stakeholders, development and dissemination of a variety of knowledge exchange/translation publications, data tools, and training opportunities, including webinars/seminars, and our award winning online course, Tobacco and Public Health: From Theory to Practice.

Each of our projects take an integrated knowledge exchange approach to ensure that findings are of optimal relevance to knowledge users and their communities, facilitating the translation of knowledge into action.

Stakeholder Engagement Activities

We actively engage stakeholders in refinement of study research questions and study design, development of data collection tools, data analysis and interpretation, and dissemination of findings. Knowledge translation to the broader tobacco control community occurs through interactive webinars and workshops, OTRU online resources and products and academic publication. OTRU’s Scientific Advisors, Affiliated Scientists and Project Leads also share their expertise with numerous provincial, national, and international advisory boards expert panels, and task groups.

OTRU’s Knowledge Exchange Advisory Group

OTRU regularly meets with our provincial stakeholders and Tobacco Control Area Networks (TCANs) to discuss their information needs, share recent research and evaluation findings from OTRU, and gain input to our annual work planning process. OTRU also solicits knowledge needs from public health practitioners through surveys, and face to face meetings.

Webinar Series

OTRU’s webinar series highlights research and evaluation findings, and is targeted at tobacco control stakeholders, the broader public health community and the research community.

Engagement of the Scientific Community

Our Principal Investigators, Project Leads and Research staff also engage the research community through conference presentations, expert panels, and publication in scientific journals and books.

About OTRU

The Ontario Tobacco Research Unit (OTRU) is a Canadian leader in tobacco control research, monitoring and evaluation, teaching and training, and is a respected source of science-based information on tobacco control. We also apply our skills to other areas of public health.